Cantor Fitzgerald Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $215.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on JNJ. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson & Johnson from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $181.00 price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Johnson & Johnson from $170.00 to $169.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $176.36.

Johnson & Johnson Stock Performance

Shares of Johnson & Johnson stock opened at $144.77 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $156.54 and a 200-day moving average of $155.74. Johnson & Johnson has a 1-year low of $143.39 and a 1-year high of $175.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $348.86 billion, a PE ratio of 10.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.53.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $21.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.39 billion. Johnson & Johnson had a net margin of 37.79% and a return on equity of 37.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson & Johnson will post 10.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson & Johnson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $1.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Johnson & Johnson’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 20th. Johnson & Johnson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.47%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total value of $9,281,969.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,078.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder & Johnson Johnson sold 3,725 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $96,142.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,099,575 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $105,810,030.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jennifer L. Taubert sold 59,397 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.27, for a total transaction of $9,281,969.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 141,416 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,078.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 219.2% in the first quarter. Strata Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $938,000 after acquiring an additional 4,070 shares during the period. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its position in Johnson & Johnson by 4.4% in the first quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 5,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 91.5% in the first quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 4,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $695,000 after purchasing an additional 2,099 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Johnson & Johnson by 2.0% in the first quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,486,000 after purchasing an additional 921 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Johnson & Johnson by 63.3% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 52,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,343,000 after acquiring an additional 20,446 shares in the last quarter. 69.55% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson, together with its subsidiaries, researches, develops, manufactures, and sells various products in the healthcare field worldwide. The company's Innovative Medicine segment offers products for various therapeutic areas, such as immunology, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis; infectious diseases comprising HIV/AIDS; neuroscience, consisting of mood disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, and schizophrenia; oncology, such as prostate cancer, hematologic malignancies, lung cancer, and bladder cancer; cardiovascular and metabolism, including thrombosis, diabetes, and macular degeneration; and pulmonary hypertension comprising pulmonary arterial hypertension through retailers, wholesalers, distributors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals for prescription use.